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Trump's Cabinet Picks Gather Steam in Republican-Led Senate

Jan 25 2017 by Kate Woods

Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin told "The Big John Howell Show" on WLS that rebuilding the nation's roads, bridges, and tunnels, is good for the economy. Details provided to The Associated Press include a $200 million "vital infrastructure fund" to pay for projects of national significance.

In Trump's "private-public" partnerships, private investors get rich and the public gets shafted.

Paul C. Light, a professor of public service at New York University who has worked on Capitol Hill as an adviser on transitions, said the confirmation process had made clear that standards for acceptable nominee conduct have changed.

"When President Trump was candidate Trump, at nearly every stop on the campaign trail, he talked about a big bold $1 trillion infrastructure bill that would put millions of Americans back to work rebuilding our roads and bridges", Schumer said at a news conference on Tuesday.

The issue has dredged up conflicts between Trump and moderate Republicans as well as Democrats. The investment would be spread over a 10-year period and create more than 15 million jobs, he said. Democrats must use every tool they have to delay and stop these unsafe nominees, and Republicans need to oppose these nominees if they really care about draining the swamp. "We think the best way to pay for it is to close those loopholes that cause companies to move business overseas".

A White House spokesman didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters he doesn't want another infrastructure plan that is effectively an economic stimulus program like the one Congress passed in 2009 at former President Barack Obama's behest.

Senate Democratic leaders subsequently agreed to expedite a debate and vote on the nomination of Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) to serve as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The infrastructure bill would provide the sweet bipartisan coating to the bitter pill of his otherwise orthodox right-wing agenda.

"We Democrats have always been behind this but we've been stymied by Republicans in the Senate over and over again", Schumer said. "We're glad that President Trump understands this is a job creator".

Helping Trump pass a bipartisan bill that will spread prosperity is a enormous political boon-one that will make it far more hard for Democrats to contest either the midterm elections or Trump's reelection bid. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Tom Carper of Delaware, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Bill Nelson of Florida, and Maria Cantwell of Washington. "The speech should have been aimed at bringing people together, as Ronald Reagan's speech was, as Franklin Roosevelt's speech was, Democratic and Republican", Schumer said.

"I want to work with him on some issues like lead". "And so, the fact that people didn't like it speaks poorly of them, not of what I said in the speech".

Some Republicans and Trump allies have proposed tax credits to lure businesses to do the work.